"I, despise the countess? tut, tut!"
"Unless one is not to despise the girl who is a mother without being a wife."
It was the man's turn to become paler than death and lean on the back of the nearest chair.
"Madam, you have said too much or too little, and I have the right for an explanation."
"Do you ask a queen for explanations?"
"I do," replied Charny.
The door opened, and the Queen turned to demand impatiently:
"What is wanted?"
It was a valet who announced Dr. Gilbert, come by appointment. She eagerly bade him send him in.
"You call for an explanation about the countess," she continued to the count: "well, ask it of this gentleman, who can give it, better than anybody else."